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Deep purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is great with cassis, slight blueberries, soy sauce, and slight baking spices. On the palate, this is young, tight and tannic, but given that, it presents delicious drinking right now. Of course, give it five or ten years and there is definitely some upside. The palate has lots of cassis intertwined with a nice earthiness with some salinity. Good finish. Needs heavier foods right now. This has another 20 years in it depening how you like your wines.

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Cos d'Estournel is one of the great wines of Bordeaux and so, one of the great wines of the world. 2008 is a vintage that doesn't always get the respect that it deserve coming right before the pair of great vintages 2009 and 2010. It is also a bit more backward than its reputation and so the wines don't always show that well at this point. They will. This one is drinking well but patience will certainly be rewarded. It needs a few more years in the cellar to get to peak. Purple in color. The nose is nice with cassis and soy sauce. Also some baking spice. On the palate, this has med

It's not too often I get the chance to drink a Bordeaux from my birth year - 1958, so this was quite a treat. Pale ruby/brown in color to the rim. The nose took a few minutes to sort itself out. It is clearly old and past its prime but it was good and had plenty of life left. The nose had dust, some mushrooms but also some cigar box and even some cherries. Maybe I imagined it, but also some classic soy sauce notes. On the palate, this is soft but reasonably in balance. No tannins. Some cherry fruit layered with damp earth/tobacco. Good finish. I won't give this an official grade b

This was a good showing for this wine from what is a very hard and slow to mature vintage. At age 24, however, this one seems to be about at peak. Ruby in color with some browning. The nose is tight but eventually shows cassis, dust and slight soy sauce. On the palate, this again takes some time to open. This was pop and pour, but an hour decant might have been a good idea. Eventually, it shows cassis over a forest floor. It unwinds in the glass showing nice layering. Mild tannins. Medium finish. This should certainly drink well for the next decade. It works better with food and

Of all Bordeaux first growths, perhaps none is as well known, both inside and outside of the wine world, as Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Its name transcends wine, standing as a symbol of luxury. How did it get this lofty reputation? And, more importantly is, it deserved? The answer to the second question is a definite yes. This article will explore the first question in more detail. The History: Records of this estate stretch as far back as 1234 when Gombaud de Lafite, abbot of the Vertheuil Monastery north of Pauillac, owned the property. The name Lafite comes from "la hite", a Gascon expression meaning "small hill." Records from the 14th century indicate that it was not a vineyard, but what the French call a seigneurie. This is an estate run by a lord and others who are effectively sharecroppers. The manor house was constructed in the 1500s and still standing today. Read part one of the First Growths Series. The Ségur family bought the property in the 1600s. Jacques de Ségur planted the vineyard in 1680 although grapes were no doubt grown before that. By the early 1700s, thanks to Nicolas-Alexandre, Marquis de Ségur, Chateau Lafite wines were very popular with those wealthy enough to afford them, first in English Society (where it was a favorite of Prime Minster Robert Walpole) and later in French society.

Purple in color. The nose is very nice with cassis, tobacco and spice. On the palate, this has a nice texture. A lot of depth but the wine is very tight now. It kept improving all night long and probably needs at least a decade. But, that patience will be rewarded with at least a few points of upside potential. In the glass it shows nice cassis fruit, cigar box and earth. Good balance. $75